Two Worlds
by VindictusUSA
Summary: A conflict sparks between the Dark Knights and the Paladins. Soon it will turn into an all-out war. And Elizabeth Courtland is eventually caught right in the middle of the war of words and steel. Will she pick a side or choose to remain neutral? Rated M for Sexual Content, Violence, and Language.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

**For those of you that see this story, you're probably thinking stuff like, "Why did you stop writing chapters for ****The Reaper****? (My other Vindictus Fanfic.)" I did stop because I'm not very pleased with it. I'm thinking about shutting it down entirely actually, but I'll keep it in case I do want to continue it. **

**So for now, I'm making another Vindictus fanfiction. One that I like a lot better since it doesn't really follow the plot of Vindictus. Only some parts of the Vindictus storyline will be in this fanfiction, such as the mercenary training outpost and some of the bosses so it's not going to be predictable.**

**And Elizabeth is Vella.**

**Anyways, enough of my ranting. On with the story!**

_**(Disclaimer: I do not own anything on Vindictus. Just my OC's)**_

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_True freedom is when you allow yourself to be free._

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**Five Years Ago. . .**

"Take it all in you whore!" Frederick growled as he thrusted violently into Elizabeth. She subtly winced in pain as he had his way with her.

Elizabeth Courtland is an sixteen year old girl that works as a maid in the mansion of Sir Frederick. She was about the average height which is 1.6 meters tall. But beyond that, all the uses for the word "average" went right out the window. Elizabeth was a beautiful girl who had the right tone of crimson to her hair that complemented her green eyes and her fair skin. She had full lips, ample breasts, and a set of heart-stopping curves. Everything that a man would want for an outer appearance of a girl.

A disgusting scumbag like Frederick who had his eye on Elizabeth since the day he laid his eyes on her. It didn't help that his wife noticed his fixation on Elizabeth and treated her horribly. So why is Elizabeth working for them, you ask?

Well it's all because of one reason. Frederick is paying for her brother's education. He was barely twelve years old. Elizabeth and her brother, Sebastian, came from a very poor family that barely survived off of fishing in the Malina Sea. The day Elizabeth's parents suddenly died from a bandit attack, she and Sebastian were taken in by Frederick. Elizabeth knew very well that the bandits who murdered their parents were hired by Frederick, she had seen the note on his desk when she was cleaning. But of course she couldn't report it, she was a woman. No one listened to women.

Ever since, Frederick had been trying to get to Elizabeth alone with him and that day had finally arrived. His wife was out shopping for bread and Sebastian was in school. It was just him and her.

Frederick groaned as he began to thrust harder and faster. "Oh my Elizabeth, you're so tight." He said lustfully.

Elizabeth couldn't do anything. She tried to resist earlier with words earlier when he was cornering her, but now there was nothing she could do. If she did try to resist, he could easily have her executed. And without her around he would throw Sebastian out into the streets to fend for himself.

For now, all she could do was just... play along as the obedient maid. When Frederick finished inside of Elizabeth and left her alone in her room on her bed, she wept. She wanted her parents to be there that moment to comfort her, but they were gone. Murdered by a scumbag. She finished weeping and tossed her blood-stained sheets under her bed and shrugged her clothes back on, keeping a handkerchief in her panties to absorb all the sperm and the blood that was still seeping out.

As the hours went by as she continued working, trying to ignore the pain between her legs, she thought about a way to run away with Sebastian. Away from this living hell. Frederick was nowhere to be seen.

Elizabeth kept telling herself that it was a bad idea as she began to stuff supplies into a sack. Food, camel bags filled with water, and extra clothes for herself and Sebastian.

"What do you think you're doing?" She froze. Frederick was in the doorway to the kitchen. He held out his hand, "hand that sack over." She obediently gave him the sack and he examined the contents.

He sighed. "I'll tell you this. I'll forgive you for trying to steal from me if you come to my room in a few minutes." He grinned lustfully.

Elizabeth was reminded of the pain between her legs and didn't want to go through that ever again. "No," she said in a firm tone. She immediately covered her mouth, realizing what she had done.

Frederick's grin disappeared and his face contorted into a scowl. "What did you say?" He growled.

Elizabeth shook where she stood, "I-I-I- my deepest apologies!" She cried out, bowing. "I didn't mean it!"

"I'll teach you a lesson. No one talks back to me." He growled and struck her with his fist.

She fell back from the force and didn't have time to get back up properly before Frederick pulled her up by her hair and swung again, his fist connecting with her cheek. Light and darkness reeled. Another blow, hard enough that she felt the warmth of her blood on her face before she felt the pain.

"Elizabeth!" Both Frederick and her froze as they turned to see Sebastian in the doorway. "Stop hurting her!" He dropped his bag and tackled Frederick. He had let go of Elizabeth's hair and both Frederick and Sebastian went tumbling to the ground in a struggle.

Elizabeth watched in horror as Frederick threw Sebastian across the room and his back hit the wall. "You insolent boy." Frederick growled as he wiped away a bead of blood from his lip. "Well come on then, you think you're tough don't you?" He taunted.

Sebastian roared as he charged at Frederick again. Frederick caught him by the shoulders and kneed Sebastian in the gut. The air was knocked out of Sebastian as he haunched over in pain.

"Not so tough now are you?" Frederick smirked as he grabbed a kitchen knife from a drawer and approached Sebastian.

"No!" Elizabeth cried out as she threw herself at him only to be thrown back against the wall.

"You're next after I'm done with him." Frederick smirked and pinned Sebastian to the floor. Sebastian grabbed both of Frederick's wrists as Frederick tried to plunge the blade into Sebastian's chest.

Sebastian looked at Elizabeth, "Sis, you have to fight..." He said, struggling to keep the knife away.

"But I can't!" Elizabeth cried out.

"Don't let society decide what you can and can't do!" Sebastian yelled. "We live in a cruel world where the strong prey on the weak." He growled at Frederick.

"Spare me the ranting." Frederick laughed as he had a strength contest with Sebastian.

"Only the victors are allowed to live, sis! This world is merciless like that! You have to fight, if you don't fight you can't win!" Sebastian pleaded to Elizabeth.

"Shut up!" Frederick said before putting his whole weight down on the knife. It was too much for Sebastian and the knife's blade plunged deep into Sebastian's chest. Sebastian's breathing became hoarse and gurgled as the blade embedded itself deep into his lung. Blood filled his lungs and he drowned, exhaling his last breath.

Elizabeth watched in horror. Her brother, the only family she had left.

Dead.

Frederick stood up and sighed, looking at Elizabeth. "Well, that was certainly enticing. Now then, I have a final proposition for you. Come to bed with me and I'll let you live and stay here in this mansion."

She didn't even hear Frederick. Her whole world had collapsed and everything was silent as she stared wide-eyed at her brother's pale body.

"Did you hear what I said?" Frederick asked.

Finally, Elizabeth snapped out of her trance. Something inside the back of her head had clicked on as she stood up. Frederick saw a whole different expression painted on Elizabeth's face.

"No," She said.

"What?" He said.

"I said _no,_" she growled. Then she suddenly roared and threw herself at Frederick, catching him off guard. They went down in a tumbling heap and she landed on top of him. She grabbed the hand that held the knife and sunk her teeth into it.

Frederick cried out as he began to lay a flurry of punches all over Elizabeth with his free hand. The pain only made her bite down harder on his hand and he finally let go of the knife when she tore off a piece of his hand. He screamed in pain as he held his hand. Elizabeth quickly picked up the knife and stabbed Frederick over and over and over again. Each time, blood trailing the knife as she pulled it out of his chest.

It was an eternity before she stopped her fury of stabbing. Everything was silent except for the rain outside. Elizabeth's breathing slowed to a resting pace as the adrenaline left her system. The realization of what she had done hit her harder than a tidal wave. Then she crawled over to Sebastian's body.

Tears escaped her eyes as she cupped his face, wanting a sign that he was going to be okay to show on his expression. But it wasn't going to be okay. Her brother had gone back to Erinn and there was nothing she could do about it. She wept silently to herself as she knelt next to her brother's lifeless body.

"I'm home!"

Elizabeth stopped weeping in an instant. That was Frederick's wife. She heard the footsteps approaching the kitchen and she hid in the shadows with the knife in her hand. When she heard his wife gasp, Elizabeth leaped out of the shadows and pounced her and ran the knife through her neck. In a few moments, she died as well.

There was no time for her to stay there. She had to leave as soon as possible before someone else found the bodies. She quickly went back into the kitchen to close Sebastian's eyes and giving him a final kiss on the forehead before getting out of the mansion with the sack she had stuffed things into earlier. She tossed the knife into the sack and ran for the stable. She saddled a horse and took off into the stormy night.

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"You can't be serious." Nyle said to Brynn. They had found Elizabeth unconscious and leaning against a tree in the forest.

"She's going to die if we don't help her." Brynn said, feeling her faint pulse.

"Since when did you care about other people?" Nyle retorted.

"I don't," he said bluntly, "but I won't have a clean conscience if I don't help this young lady." Brynn said as he picked up Elizabeth bridal style.

"Do whatever you please," Nyle said, leading the way back to Colhen.

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**Hopefully this chapter wasn't a disaster.**

**Thanks for reading! Leave a review and hit that favorite/follow button.**

**Chapter 2 will be up shortly.**


	2. Chapter 2: Initiation

**Present Day. . .**

"What are you doing here?" Gallagher asks.

"..." Elizabeth was silent as she unsheathed her twin blades. Nyle had ordered her to kill Gallagher for his incompetence to complete the final part of her trial in becoming a Dark Knight.

"Did you really follow me to kill me?" Gallagher asks, shocked.

"I'm sorry..." Elizabeth said as she raised her blades.

Gallagher fell to his knees. "Please... Please don't kill me." He begged. "I apologize for everything I did. I've always looked up to you."

"Spare me the lies..." Elizabeth said, trying to hide her pain.

"I mean it! I won't call you a rookie anymore. Please don't kill me! I don't want to die!" He cried out.

Elizabeth's hand shook as she found it harder and harder to bring down her blade to end this man. The man who gave her such a hard time ever since she joined the Crimson Blades. Constantly boasting his superiority over her because she was a woman. And that word "rookie" that she began to hate ever since Gallagher kept using it as an insult to her.

"Damn it!" She growled as she tossed her swords aside, making loud clanking noises as they landed on the hard wood floor.

"What?" Gallagher looked up from his fetal position. "You're... you're not going to kill me?" He asked.

"I can't... no matter how much I don't like you I just can't." Elizabeth sighed, sitting down on the nearby bench.

"Really?" He asked.

"My god, are you that dumb?" Elizabeth groaned. "Yes, I'm not going to kill you."

"In that case..." he stood up and laughed. "What the hell are you doing here then?"

"... Wait, what?" Elizabeth was confused.

"Why are you just sitting there? Get out of here!" He said. "Stupid rookie..."

She stared wide-eyed at Gallagher, shocked at what she was hearing.

"Yeah, I said it! Forget all that crap I said before. I never looked up to you, and I don't even like you!"

Elizabeth was frozen in her seat, her jaw dropped in shock.

"You still have a lot to learn, eh rookie? Hehe. Oh man, how could a mercenary be so weak?!" He laughed.

Elizabeth got up and planted a hard kick on the laughing man's chest, sending him flying across the room and smacking into the opposite wall. "You jerk..." She said, picking up her swords. She resisted the temptation to go and kill him right then and there and sheathed her blades. She left the Mercenary Outpost only to be immediately greeted by Theo, Tieve's dog.

"Hey, Theo!" She knelt and playfully petted the big white dog and scratched behind his ears. Theo panted in happiness as Elizabeth petted him. There were two people that Theo liked more than anyone else and they were Tieve and Elizabeth.

"Were you a good dog while I was gone?" She babied him as she cupped his head and rubbed her nose against Theo's. He barked happily and nuzzled up against Elizabeth, licking her.

She laughed and continued to pet the dog as she sat down on the grass.

"You always have a way with dogs don't you?" Elizabeth looked up to see Lann.

Lann and Elizabeth were friendly rivals as they battled side-by-side. Like her, he too came from a dark past. Lann's mother was a courtesan who was murdered when he was only five years old. During his early years, he was a slave working in the farms of a tyrannical slave owner. When he was just seventeen, he ran away and took refuge in Colhen. For five years he was inspired by Captain Aodhan and worked everyday perfecting his dual sword technique until he joined the same time Elizabeth did. By then she was barely nineteen and they've been partners for two years. He treated her as an equal, something Elizabeth was grateful for.

Unlike Lann, Elizabeth preferred having her dominant hand hold a sword in reverse and the other sword held the traditional way. When Lann asked why she fought like that, she demonstrated her technique. She was able to leave no openings in her form and was a formidable force on the battlefield, cutting down enemies in her path.

"Hey, partner." Elizabeth winked.

"How did your mission go?" He asked. Elizabeth had told Lann that she had to go on an mission alone as an excuse to hide the fact she was being put on trials to become a Dark Knight.

"It was... unexpected, but I got the job done and collected the reward." She said.

"Good to hear, glad you're safe." Lann said.

"Since when did you care about my safety?" She scoffed.

"Well you have to be alive to see how much better I am with a sword than you." He winked.

She giggled, "the only way that will happen is if I'm dead."

They laughed and played with Theo for a bit. Elizabeth watched Lann run around with Theo in the village center.

"I see you finally got the armor you commissioned from Ferghus." Elizabeth commented. Lann was wearing the Dark Crest set without the helmet.

"Yeah, it was expensive as hell to have Ferghus forge it. Even more expensive because he kept breaking some of the equipment as he kept trying to make it." He sighed as he threw a red ball into the distance and Theo ran after it.

She giggled, "I told you that you should've gone to Rocheste to find a more experienced Blacksmith."

"Yeah, yeah, rub it in." He said, sitting next to her. "Although I doubt Ferghus would appreciate you criticizing his handiwork. I think the Dark Crest set came out nicely."

"I won't argue with that part, but I'm just saying that he breaks things too much," she pointed out.

"True." He looked at her.

"What?" She asked.

"Don't you think the Lightwind set is a bit too revealing?" Lann asked, blushing.

"Well of course! That's the point." Elizabeth smirked. "It makes enemies underestimate my fighting capabilities and makes my fights a lot easier."

"Huh, never really thought about that. But for Morrighan's sake, we're in town. The least you could do is change into proper clothing. We're not going to go on missions for a while." Lann chastised.

"You're one to talk Knight-In-Shining-Armor." She scoffed before getting up. "I'll see you later, I have to go see Brynn."

"Okay, I'll meet you in the Inn's tavern." Lann said, waving. Elizabeth giggled as Theo tackled him.

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"Do you regret your choice?" Nyle asked Elizabeth in the laboratory basement.

"Absolutely." Elizabeth groaned, "after all that, he had the nerve to insult me."

He chuckled, "it's too late now. But don't be disappointed."

"But why? I didn't do as you asked. I can't become a Dark Knight." She said, resting her face on her hand.

"You acted according to your own convictions. I'm sure there is a different path for you." Nyle assured.

"You're kidding me right? I should be a Dark Knight after what happened to me." She sighed with disappointment. Elizabeth had told Nyle about her past a while ago during the whole Blood Prince crisis. Only he, Brynn and Lann knew about her past.

"Besides, what other path could I possibly take. It would be a more treacherous and long journey if I did try it." Elizabeth said.

"It could be closer than you think." Nyle said, sipping a cup of Brynn's perfect tea.

"How?"

"Perhaps... it is in that book there." He pointed to the diary she found from the Goliath frog. She hadn't opened it since she acquired it, partially because it was still covered in frog juice.

She grabbed the diary and opened it. A burst of light shot out from the book causing Elizabeth to recoil and fall backwards in her seat.

Nyle chuckled as he took another sip from the tea cup.

She groaned as she put the chair back upright and sat down and read out loud the only passage that was in the diary.

_I have decided not to become a Dark Knight, but to forge my own path. _

_It is my mission to protect the Oracle._

_But Morrighan... I cannot wait for you to come._

_I have decided to give my life for all those who would die before you come._

_Even if this means we must wait longer... I swear to follow my convictions. _

_I swear by my name..._

Elizabeth's name appeared in the missing part of the text.

_I swear by my name, Elizabeth Courtland._

Suddenly another burst of light emanated from the book and enveloped Elizabeth. "What's happening?!" She said, confused.

"Don't fight it, Elizabeth. Just let it enter you and fill you with its warmth." Nyle said.

"It's kind of hard to-"

"Just relax." Nyle assured.

She sighed and stood still. She closed her eyes and tried her best to relax. Then she suddenly felt a jolt of warmth throughout her body. When she opened her eyes, the light was gone.

"What just happened?" She asked.

Nyle smirked as he placed his tea cup on the table. "You're now a Paladin, Lady Courtland."


End file.
